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Are carbohydrates really bad for you? Is there a connection between diet and cancer? Just how strong is the link between saturated fat and heart disease? Reporter Jane E. Brody writes the award-winning Personal Health column in The Times and has authored several books on medicine and science. This week, Ms. Brody is answering readers’ questions about diet and nutrition. You may post your questions below. Please remember that she cannot answer all questions submitted, and she cannot respond to solicitations for personal medical advice. [Eds. note: We are no longer accepting questions and comments.]

Just how bad are cold medicines for children? What are the early signs of autism? How do you quiet a colicky infant? Dr. Alan Greene is a clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and the founder of parenting Web site drgreene.com. His most recent book, “Raising Baby Green,” explores environmentally aware approaches to children’s health. You may post your questions below. Please remember that Dr. Greene cannot answer all of them, and he cannot respond to solicitations for personal medical advice. [Eds. note: We are no longer accepting questions.]

What are the first steps to take when confronted with a serious mental illness? How do you cope with grief, or everyday stress? Is there a recipe for happiness? This week Dr. Richard A. Friedman, professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and a frequent contributor to Science Times, is answering questions and hosting a discussion on mental health and emotional well-being. You may post your comments and questions below. Please remember that Dr. Friedman cannot answer all questions, and he cannot respond to solicitations for medical advice. [Eds. note: We are no longer accepting comments and questions.]

How much exercise do you really need? What does science tell us about what it takes to lose weight and to keep the pounds off? Reporter Gina Kolata covers health and medicine for The Times and writes Personal Best, a biweekly column on fitness. This week, as readers begin the hard business of keeping New Year’s resolutions, Ms. Kolata is answering questions and hosting a discussion on fitness and weight loss. You may post your comments and questions below. Please remember that she cannot answer all questions, and she cannot respond to solicitations for medical advice. [Eds. note: We are no longer accepting questions and comments.]

Five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and at least 66,000 die of it every year, making Alzheimer’s the nation’s sixth leading cause of death. By 2050, as many as 16 million Americans may be afflicted, yet, as the Times reports, researchers have been unable to find even modestly effective treatments.

Dr. John C. Morris, director of the Alzheimer’s disease research center at Washington University in St. Louis, is taking readers’ questions about the condition. You may submit yours in the space below. Dr. Morris cannot answer all questions submitted, and he cannot respond to requests for personal medical advice. [Eds. note: We are no longer accepting questions.]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or C.O.P.D., includes both chronic bronchitis and emphysema — progressive, incurable lung diseases usually caused by smoking. Twelve million Americans are living with C.O.P.D., but researchers think at least that many have the disease but do not know it. In its early stages, C.O.P.D. may go unnoticed; doctors do not test for lung disease as aggressively as they do for high blood pressure or cholesterol. Yet, as The Times reports today, there are treatments that can ease symptoms and help patients live longer.

Dr. Byron Thomashow, medical director of the The Jo-Ann LeBuhn Center for Chest Disease and Respiratory Failure at Columbia University Medical Center, is taking readers’ questions about C.O.P.D. You may submit yours in the space below. Dr. Thomashow cannot answer all questions submitted, and he cannot respond to requests for personal medical advice. (Editor’s note: Questions are no longer being accepted for this Q&A.)

Two teams of scientists have managed to produce stem cells from human skin cells, Gina Kolata reports today. Their achievement may end the enormous ethical debate surrounding the destruction of human embryos for scientific research.

Dr. M. William Lensch, a senior scientist in the stem cell program at Children’s Hospital Boston, will be taking readers’ questions about the new findings. Please submit yours using the form below. Please remember that Dr. Lensch cannot respond to all submitted questions, and he cannot respond to requests for personal medical advice. [Eds. note: We are no longer accepting questions.]

Diabetes is the fifth leading killer of Americans, but fewer than 10 percent of patients are getting all the care they need, Gina Kolata reports. Why is this deadly disease so often untreated? What can patients do?

Dr. John Buse, an endocrinologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is taking readers’ questions. You may submit yours in the space below. Dr. Buse cannot answer all questions submitted, and he cannot respond to requests for personal medical advice. (Editor’s Note: Questions are no longer being accepted for this Q&A.)

Chief Justice John Roberts was released from a Maine hospital after an overnight stay following a seizure. The cause of his seizure is unknown, but since it is his second one, mild epilepsy is one possibility, according to experts.

What causes seizures like this? How disabling are they? Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a leading neurologist at New York University Medical Center, answered readers’ questions. Dr. Devinsky cannot respond to all submitted questions, and he cannot respond to requests for personal medical advice. (Editor’s Note: Questions are no longer being accepted.)

Cancer rates may be falling, Denise Grady reports, but patients still find it difficult to obtain adequate treatment — particularly for such difficult forms of the disease as colon cancer. How should patients take charge of their care? What can be done to improve the system?

Dr. Richard Wender, president of the American Cancer Society, is answering readers’ questions. Dr. Wender cannot answer all questions submitted, and he cannot respond to requests for personal medical advice. (Editor’s note: Questions are no longer being accepted.)

Are scientists on the brink of creating entirely new forms of life? In a study published this week by the journal Science, a research team led by Dr. J. Craig Venter and Dr. John I. Glass reported that they had managed to replace the genes of one species of bacteria entirely with the genes of another. Dr. Venter and Dr. Glass will be taking readers’ questions about their research and its implications on Friday, and their answers will be posted here. Submit your question below; they will not be able to answer all questions and only those selected will be published. (Editor’s note: questions are no longer being accepted.)

The public discourse about evolution has been so dominated by politics and religion that it can seem as if the science behind it has been frozen since the time of Darwin.

Not at all. Darwin’s insight into the power of natural selection is still the foundation of evolutionary theory. But evolutionary biology is buzzing with excitement and genuine advances. Science Times this week has a special issue devoted to these advances and Sean B. Carroll, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Wisconsin, is one of scientists whose work is featured. (Watch a video interview with Dr. Carroll.)

He is a prime force in the new field of evo-devo, which studies the importance of changes in embryonic development to evolution and the author of The Making of the Fittest (2006, WW Norton) and Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2005, WW Norton). Dr. Carroll answered selected readers’ questions about the science of evolution. (Editor’s note: questions are no longer being accepted.)

In a recent study on birth order and intelligence, Norwegian researchers report that eldest children have higher I.Q.s than their younger siblings. Why would that be? There are as many guesses as there are scientists. “Virtually anyone who has a sibling is a birth-order theorist,” says Dr. Frank Sulloway, an expert on family dynamics at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Sulloway answered readers’ questions about the study and its implications; his answers appear below. [Editors’ note: questions are no longer being accepted.]

His new book, “Never Shower in a Thunderstorm,” a collection of columns, was recently published by Times Books. He’ll be taking reader questions this week, which can be submitted below. He will not be able to answer all questions, and requests for personal medical advice can not be honored. (Editor’s note: Questions are no longer being collected for this Q&A)

The article says high cholesterol is a risk factor. Could you detail what you mean by high cholesterol? High numbers overall or just high LDL? Or both? How high is too high? – Laura

This question points to a central problem in stroke and heart attack prevention. As we understand the problem, cholesterol causes atherosclerosis, the deposition of cholesterol in the wall of the arteries throughout the body. Atherosclerosis is the disease that causes stroke and heart attack. In my opinion it does not make sense to ask how high a value is too high without knowing if the person has atherosclerosis. If atherosclerosis is building up in the carotid or other arteries as shown by ultrasound tests, then I believe cholesterol is too high no matter what the value. Stroke prevention studies demonstrate that for people with vascular disease, lowering cholesterol prevents stroke no matter what the starting cholesterol value is. – Dr. Koroshetz